By Eric Elezuo

The coalition umbrella party, African Democratic Congress (ADC) has cried foul over the arrest and detention of its key members, including the former Govvernor of Sokoto State, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, who is presently undergoing interrogation, describing it as political witchhunt of opposition leaders.

Tambuwal was arrested and detained on Monday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the allegation of ‘suspicious’ withdrawal of N189 billion from the Sokoto State Government account during his tenure as governor.

Kicking against the move, the party, in a statement by the Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, advised EFCC to focus on corruption instead of “harassing” opposition figures. It accused the EFCC of selective investigation, and behaving like a hit squad of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It warned that the dangerous trend could erode public trust in the institution and undermine the anti-corruption fight.

It maintained that EFCC’s recent pattern of re-opening closed cases, digging up files from years past, and targeting members of opposition parties suggests that it is not an anti-graft body, but a political enforcer.

The statement reads: “In recent days, several senior members of the opposition coalition have received EFCC summons that are clearly politically motivated.

“These are not fresh cases arising from new evidence but new files opened in reaction to emergent political affiliations to intimidate key opposition figures.

“The EFCC was created to be a fearless defender of the Nigerian people’s trust, applying the law evenly to all, friend or foe, ruling party or opposition.

“Today, that vision appears to have been compromised.

“The Commission now operates like a department of the APC, deployed to fight government critics and opposition figures, thereby achieving what the government cannot achieve through public debate.

“We have observed how investigations into ruling party allies quietly fade away while opposition figures are dragged before the court of public opinion with sometimes decade-old allegations that have been hastily revived and dressed up as fresh evidence.

“This is selective prosecution, and selective prosecution is the death of justice.

“It does appear that in today’s Nigeria, one’s guilt or innocence depends on one’s party membership, not evidence.

“For example, since a certain former governor defected to the APC with his state’s entire political machinery, the EFCC’s investigations into his administration have vanished from public view.

“Not a question has been asked. Not a document leaked. Not a single update.

“Yet the same EFCC still somehow finds means to reopen old cases against opposition leaders and pursue the stale allegations against them.”

“It does not augur well for the EFCC if people think that all you need to point the accusing hands of the Commission in your direction is to stand opposed to the ruling party, and all that it takes for protection is to align with the government.

“Unfortunately, this is the widely established perception in Nigeria today, which the commission by its recent actions, including the ongoing surreptitious harassment of opposition leaders, has given credence to.

“The ADC hereby calls on all Nigerians, civil society organisations, and the independent media to resist this dangerous slide into dictatorship and misuse of public institutions to achieve partisan objectives.

“The EFCC does not belong to the APC. It belongs to the Nigerian people.

“It is funded by taxpayers, not the ruling party.”

Tambuwal was arrested and detained on Monday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on the allegation of ‘suspicious’ withdrawal of N189 billion from the Sokoto State Government account during his tenure as governor.

According to the anti-graft agency, the withdrawal was carried out incrementally for six years out of his eight-year tenure.

The senator honoured the invitation of the anti-graft agency at about 11:30am in Abuja on Monday, but was detained.

The EFCC said that the withdrawals were from three accounts: the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the Government House Account and the Secretary to the State Government Account in flagrant violation of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

“We have isolated all the allegations for Tambuwal. It is left to him to respond.”

The source said the accounts received a total cumulative inflow of N567,160,024,619.93, out of which N189,155,043,825.09 was illegally diverted.

The EFCC fact sheet states:  “The EFCC carried out financial profiling of the Sokoto State Government.

“This profiling was aimed at identifying the state government’s accounts that may have been exposed to diversion, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering by government officials.

“Analysis of the state government’s activities from 1st of January, 2015 to August 31st, 2021 uncovered unusual transactions in the following accounts: Accountant General Sokoto FAAC, Secretary to the State Government, Permanent Secretary, Government House.

“Specifically, the above accounts received a total cumulative inflow of N567,160,024,619.93, out of which N189,155,043,825.09 was withdrawn in favour of government officials, individuals (suspected to be cashiers), companies and other groups/agencies.

“In light of the findings, it is assessed with a high degree of confidence that the named individuals (suspected to be cashiers) and identified government officials are involved in the diversion of public funds, misappropriation of state government funds and money laundering activities.

“The following are suggested: Investigation should commence on other state government accounts to identify other accounts that are prone to unwholesome acts of state officials.

“Investigate the named individuals and identified government officials to know the extent of their involvement.

“Investigate FAAC account payouts to private companies; Nagarta Microfinance Bank and Bilya Micro System,” the document said.